Last Wednesday, I went to a feed store to buy some seeds. By this time in the summer, most garden shops are out of seeds, so I was delighted to get some for a second planting to replenish my salad garden.

The next evening, one mean thunderstorm ravaged our area. With hail bigger than quarters, it pelted everything for half an hour. It was reported to have left an ice carpet in its wake. The aftermath revealed dented cars and shredded corn fields and gardens. The carpet of shed leaves looked like a green autumn! My salad garden became tossed salad!

Psalm 147:17 – He hurls down hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? (NIV)

But Jesus also declared:

Matthew 6:26 – Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? (NIV)

Personally, I prefer to think of God feeding finches, rather than hurling hail stones. Somehow, I just can't blame God. What I prefer to think is that God knew it was coming, so He made provision to spare me a dented car by being away. Provision was also made for seeds to replant what would be damaged. Friends, I like to think of God loving us so much that He would do such a simple thing.

Also, didn't Jesus say that God numbers the hairs on our heads, and that He knows when a sparrow falls from the sky? If God cares about those little details, how much more will He care for our lives!

If God cares about these, how much more will He care about big things — like gas prices, home foreclosures, illness, floods, earthquakes, typhoons, or wars!

According to Scripture, when God created this world, He didn't just set it spinning and forget it. God takes an integral interest in what goes on — so much so, that He came in Christ Jesus just for us. Amazingly, we are the recipients of God's grace and loving provision.

Prayer: Loving Creator God, thank You for intimately caring about the details of our lives. Thank You for the grace we experience through Jesus Christ. Thank You for Your pre-emptive provision and tenderest care regarding our needs. Forgive us when we doubt Your loving grace. For Jesus' sake, we pray. Amen.

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Thought for Today

No one ever stumbled on to something sitting down.

Verse for Today

Luke 1:76-78 – [Zechariah prophesied concerning John,] "You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God." (NIV)